New U.S. cannabis directive ‘changing the policy, but not the law’

Observers are saying the recent decision by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end a federal policy of non-interference in states that have legalized cannabis has changed very little in a legal sense, but its practical outcome for Canadians remains uncertain.

On Jan. 4, Sessions announced the rescission of the Cole Memorandum, a 2013 direction from Assistant U.S. Attorney General James M. Cole that largely instructed federal prosecutors to not aggressively pursue cannabis-related offences on states that had legalized the substance, resting on expectations states would...